Jun 8, 2011

Former Islanders: Pittsburgh Hires Bill Guerin as Player Development Coach

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today they have hired former Islanders captain Bill Guerin to be their new Player Development Coach. Guerin will assist Penguins prospects at both the junior hockey, college, and professional levels. He last played in the NHL for the Penguins in the 2009-10 season, and played for the Islanders from 2007-2009.

CH: To start, I'm very happy for Billy. He was a great American player and I'm happy to see that he's still involved in the game. This will be a great opportunity working for a good organization with some solid prospects coming through the ranks. In a way I'm kind of surprised, however, that Doug Weight didn't recruit him for a similar role with the Islanders. Guerin still lives on Long Island full-time (near Weight), and the two have a very close relationship. That said, this is a great position for Guerin and hope that he does very well with the Penguins.

AT: Just awesome for Guerin. Very happy for him and I knew he'd catch on somewhere. I did hope he would come to Long Island as well, but he won the Stanley Cup recently with the Penguins. I guess he feels he "owes" it to them, so to speak. Good luck, Bill!

Blog Note: We are planning on recording our first podcast tonight. If all goes well, it should be up and ready to go by tomorrow.